Anyone that knows me knows that I put the pro in procrastination. I am no stranger to losing sleep and staying up late to do school work. But recently, I went against my better judgment and procrastinated an insane amount of work, which resulted in me pulling my first ever college all-nighter. And while I don’t recommend for anyone to do what I did, I have to admit that I really enjoyed it. Now, I’m not saying that from here on out I’m going to strive to stay up for over 24 hours any chance that I get because if we’re being totally honest, that’s just plain stupid. But, there was something about being up when no one else was and watching the sun rise and the day start that made me almost appreciative that I procrastinated as much as I did… Keyword: almost.

Let me first make it clear that I was in no way intending to stay up as long as I did; it was one of those things that just kind of occurred. I was busy doing my homework, completely unaware of the time or how late it was getting. I finished my homework so late that there was no point in going to sleep, even if it only was for a few hours. Because knowing me, I would’ve woken up even more exhausted and would’ve spent the majority of my day trying to sneak in naps instead of doing what I actually needed to do.

Like I said, the time completely got away from me as I was doing my work. But that’s because usually when I do my work, I feel like there are a million things distracting me, from my buzzing phone or other people around me having a conversation, that keeps me aware. But when I stayed up to do my work, I was working in complete silence, and while silence can be enough to make some people go crazy, I was really so grateful for it. I was able to fully focus on what I was doing without the risk of having the smallest thing distract me. My mind wasn’t focused on a million other things or being pulled in a hundred different directions. I was able to completely immerse myself in the work I was doing, which really helped improve my final product. But... it also made me completely lose track of time.

So once I hit the sunrise, I knew it was the point of no return. I’m not gonna lie, there was a part of me that was half disgusted that I was actually capable of procrastinating so much that it took me until sunrise to finish my work. But once I got past that initial shock, I was able to really appreciate what I was able to witness being up that early. I was up with the sun. I watched the colors in the sky change and watched as the dark night turned into a bright and sunny morning. I was awake when it felt like the whole world wasn’t and watched it wake up, which was such an interesting and enlightening experience that not a lot of people get to see.

Usually, when we wake up, we see the world as it’s been going on for a couple hours. We don’t get to witness the world in most simple early morning state because we are the ones that take that simplicity and silence away. As humans, we start our days hustling and bustling about, but we forget to appreciate the morning as it is before we join the mix. When I stayed up, I was able to not only be a part of the world in its simplest form, but I was also able to watch as it changed from its first simple and silent state to when people joined and filled the world with movement and energy.

I watched the sunrise, which is something I was never able to do, and it brightened my mood for the whole entire day. It's something that has to happen every day for us to go on with our lives, and it's seriously under appreciated. It was so cool to literally watch the day start, not watch my day start like it usually does later on in the morning, but physically watch the change from dusk to dawn. I watched the sun first shine for the day, which made me feel bright and awake. It made me want to start my day earlier and that’s exactly what I did, which in turn made me feel so much more productive.

I’m in no way encouraging anyone to stay up all night like I did to experience these things because after staying awake for more than 24 hours, you do start to lose it a little bit. But, I know staying up was the only way I would’ve been able to see the sunrise and experience the start of a day because I can't wake up early for the life of me. So, if you’re anything like me and find yourself in a procrastination situation similar to mine, or if you have the ability to wake up early enough to watch the sunrise, I really recommend you do so. It really started my day off so much brighter, and made me appreciate every new day we get to experience.